Bad Mix: Jay-Z Extorted By Former Engineer

Former Def Jam and Roc-A-Fella engineer Chauncey Mahan recently surfaced seeking compensation for holding onto Jay Z masters that were recorded from 1998-2002, some of which include the masters for Jay’s Volume 3 and Dynasty albums – including the masters for joints like “Big Pimpin” and “I Just Wanna Love U (Give It 2 Me).” A job that cost Mahan about $100,000 in “storage fees” for the 10 years they were held.

For those unfamiliar with the case, here’s the timeline:

Chauncey Mahan claims he was given the task of safeguarding Roc-A-Fella masters (recorded from 1998-2002) by Def Jam in 2002 because no one else was doing it.

Mahan was accused of stealing the masters in 2002 and holding them for a “storage fee”/ransom of $100,000.

Mahan claims to have contacted Jay Z’s people in the years since being “appointed” guardian of the Roc-A-Fella masters.

The situation escalated last week when the LAPD seized the recordings during a sting operation orchestrated by Jay’s camp. According to a recent update, Mahan has attempted to quell all talks of extortion. Mahan claims that the records were kept by him in storage for 10 years because he was appointed “guardian” by the label and (according to Mahan) Jay Z was “a stupid kid smoking blunts“:

Jay Z should be THANKING the producer he’s accused of extortion — or so the guy claims, telling TMZ, if it weren’t for him … the recordings he’s allegedly holding for ransom would have been lost or destroyed … because Jay Z was an irresponsible pothead back in the day.

It is also being reported that the masters are now in the possession of a judge until rightful ownership is decided upon. How did that happen? Mahan got in contact with Jay Z’s folks and they managed to haggle him down to $75,000 instead of the originally requested “storage fee.” After plans were finalized and Mahan made his way to meet Jay’s reps he was greeted by LAPD and the master recordings were later seized,

Hov’s team had contacted the LAPD when they felt they were being extorted, and the cops subsequently took Mahan in for questioning. The police force has seized the tapes until ownership is proved in court.

Also of note is that Just Blaze even cites Mahan’s poor performance as the Roc later turned to engineer Young Guru:

Chauncey stayed effing up. Big part of the reason Hip and I brought in Guru.